Vineland Business Administrator William Lutz (right) sits next to Solicitor Rick Tonetta during the City Council meeting Tuesday. / Staff photo/Cody Glenn

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VINELAND — City Business Administrator William E. Lutz is demanding a quarter-million-dollar cash payout to leave his appointed position and to abandon a potential civil lawsuit against the city.

The cash demand is listed in a tort notice signed Feb. 17 by Lutz and officially received on Monday. Lutz, who lists his address as Haddonfield, also demands two years of city-paid benefits to cushion his departure, positive letters of referral from city officials and that the city not contest an application for unemployment and provide a “neutral response” to any employment inquiries.

The tort asks for two years salary, at the rate of $95,000 per year plus $60,000 for “damage to my reputation.”

The $95,000 figure is $9,000 more per year than what Lutz is being paid, but is the “salary that I should have been paid as that is what they are advertising as the salary,” for the business administrator job, his tort says.

The filing from Lutz, who was hired in August, is not a lawsuit but an advisory that a lawsuit may be filed. Besides city government, Lutz alleges he has valid legal claims against city Solicitor Richard Tonetta and City Councilwoman Angela Calakos.

The claim states in part: “This incident involves a claim for defamation, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, intentional interference of economic opportunity and advantage arising out of the November 22, 2013 criminal report to the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office and the Vineland Police Department and the December 2013 and January 2014 actions investigating me and attempting to terminate my employment and for publicizing false statements.”

The “criminal report” is an apparent reference to an investigation started after a statement, from Calakos to city police, about an alleged bribery attempt involving a sewerage authority official trying to bribe Lutz, with Lutz allegedly sharing the information with Calakos.

Lutz claims he never told that to Calakos. The administrator refused to speak to investigators, though.

Lutz also claims he is persecuted because he “reinitiated an investigation” into the Landis Theater redevelopment project. Mayor Ruben Bermudez called for the investigation, with some council support, but there is nothing on the public record to support Lutz’s claim that he personally started it.

Lutz also claims that Police Chief Timothy Codispoti has “cleared me of any wrongdoing.” Codispoti has specifically responded to that claim, saying Lutz is incorrect and that he has not been cleared and that the case is not closed.

On Thursday afternoon, council President Anthony Fanucci said mayoral spokesman Lee Tofanelli had just informed him of the filing.

Fanucci said he had not seen the paperwork and declined comment.

Calls placed Thursday to the mayor were not returned and the city did not release a statement on the filing.

The notice comes less than a month after Lutz’s hiring of a lawyer who, in selective statements to the media, is trying to portray him as a “whistleblower” against various forms of corruption, improper government practices and bad elected officials.

His attorney, Michelle Douglass, did not return a call for comment on the filing. Douglass also has not returned numerous previous inquiries about her representation of Lutz.

It was not clear Thursday if Douglass is representing Lutz in the tort notice.

Recently, official messages from Bermudez to council and other city officials follow the same line put forth by Douglass and Lutz that the administrator is being persecuted.

Lutz, a former Camden city records clerk, was Bermudez’s personal choice for the key position and reluctantly was confirmed by the council.

For ethical reasons, Tonetta has recused himself from issues involving Lutz and tried to avoid making public comments about the administrator.

Lutz is facing a lawsuit himself from Dennis Palmer, executive director of the Landis Sewerage Authority. Palmer denounced Lutz at a Jan. 23, 2014, news conference, accusing him of committing slander.

Palmer’s claim is that Lutz told Calakos that the LSA official offered a bribe for the city to back off an attempt to take over the authority.

The LSA official’s version of the alleged incident is at odds, though only slightly, with a report from the Vineland Police Department to Fanucci based on an investigation it did along with the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office.

Palmer said he was told that Lutz, in a conversation with Calakos, said Palmer offered a bribe to Tonetta.

According to police Chief Timothy Codispoti’s report, what Calakos actually reported to police was that she was told by Lutz that Palmer offered a bribe to Lutz.

“I recommend that this incident be reviewed by the appropriate authority as there is evidence that supports ethical/employee misconduct by either appointed or elected City of Vineland officals,” Codispoti wrote in his memo.

The Daily Journal previously requested a copy of Codispoti’s report through the state’s Open Public Records Act, but was denied.

The newspaper was provided a copy of the report Thursday by the city by way of

a common law request. The city released the report because the information had largely already been made public, city officials said.

Tonetta has not filed a tort notice against Lutz, who has accused him of running a “smear campaign” against him, but the option remains open.

Calakos, too, is accused by the administrator of making “false and disparaging claims.”

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